Eva Rapp-Frick

Eva Rapp-Frick is an art historian and lecturer at the University of Dortmund. She is chairperson of the art association Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Bund in Hagen and on the board of the Circle of Friends of the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Münster. She has published books and essays on various art-historical topics.

Talk: Hagener Impuls GO! Call for Ideas

Conference: MoM – Museum of Modern
Date: Day 2 – 12:45
Location: E-Werk Kesselsaal, Weimar

Karl Ernst Osthaus founded the so-called “Hagener Impuls” at the beginning of the 20th century, preceding the Bauhaus and its domination of modern art and architecture. Osthaus dreamt of founding an artists’ colony that would spread his concept of modern living in an industrial society. In 1905, he invited Richard Riemerschmid to the Congress of the “Central Office for Workers Welfare” (Zentralstelle für Arbeiter-Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen) to speak on “The design of houses for the working class” (Die Gestaltung von Arbeiterwohnhäusern). Riemerschmid’s ideas impressed Osthaus to such an extent that he persuaded his relatives at Gebr. Elbers - a local textile company - to contract Riemerschmid to build a suburban workers’ colony. Sadly, only 11 of the planned 84 houses were actually built. One of them has been retained in its original décor and condition. What we need today is a fabulous idea for its use, reviving Osthaus's vision in the digital age.